Crafts

Malaysian Heritage

Batik
Hindu traders first brought batik to Malaysia eons ago, and the art of dying fabric has been an established tradition for centuries. Designs are first sketched out on cloth, then blocked off with wax outlines. They are then painted and later sealed with TK.

batik-2.jpg batik-painting.jpg

Kite (Wau)
Kites, called waus, are painstakingly designed and crafted in vibrant colors and patterns. Intricate floral cutouts are pasted on, building up the design until the kite is ready for the bright paper tassels that complete its decoration. Kite construction is an ancient art passed down from the nobles of the Melakan court.

Pewter
Having the world’s largest reserves of tin, it seems appropriate enough that Malaysia also produces what is widely regarded as the world’s finest pewter. Most of it is produced at the Royal Selangor Pewter Factory, which lies just outside of Kuala Lumpur. The factory was founded in 1885 by Yoon Koon, a Chinese artisan who crafted objects only for the aristocracy. Today Royal Selangor is the largest single manufacturer of fine pewter in the world, and and it is still run by Koon’s third-generation descendants. The factory gives a full tour of the production floor, and visitors to the gift shop have the privilege of buying any of the items duty-free.

Weaving
The jungle provides an abundance of ideal materials for Malaysia’s many types of weaving. The thorny vines of the rattan tree, for example, are worked and woven into comfortable chairs and tables — unique furniture that was so popular with the English that it could be seen in the parlors of just about every British resident. The strong and versatile fronds of the sago palm are also superbly suited for crafting. In Borneo, the sago is dyed and woven into beautiful and distinctly patterned jewelry, baskets, hats, floor mats, and more.

making-songket.jpg

Wood Carving
On both the peninsula and in Borneo, wood carving reaches an astounding level of intricacy. What is truly special about this art form in Malaysia is that all of her cultures have perfected it. You see it everywhere: in the delightful porticos of Malay houses, in the roofs and altars Chinese and Hindu temples, on the prows of colorful fishing boats, and in the burial poles and masks of Sarawak.

The Art of Keris Making
A keris is can only be made by an empu, a revered artisan who is also endowed with magical powers. Once an empu selects a day to begin the task, he fasts and prays, warding off evil spirits and wining the favors of the demit, or good genies. To forge a kris blade, the empu alternates one layer of steel with two layers of special iron extracted from a meteorite. This is necessary for the pamor, or silvery marbling of the blade. The layers are forged together and flattened. To obtain a particular pamor, the empu twists the two halves of the steel bar separately. This is repeated as many times it takes to get the desired effect. The sequence of layering, bending, beating and forging forms a number of layers. Generally, a good kris has 64 layers of iron and pamor. It is said that some have thousands.

The blade is forged into its final shape, straight or curved, then given ribbing and tang. Using very fine files, grindstones, and chisels, the ribbing is heightened, relief created on the blade, and the ricikan (the characteristic teeth or projections on a kris) is chiseled. Finally, the emput makes the ganja, or base, and tempers the blade by bringing it to red hot and immersing it rapidly in coconut oil. The entire process can take months, partly because the empu will only work on days that he considers favorable. The blade is considered incomplete until it is merged with the handle and the sheath, and the owner has made offerings and contacted the spirit of the kris by dream.
keris.jpg
– Malaysia 2002

More about Malaysian Crafts

Games and Pastimes


Kite or Wau
is a intricate floral cutouts are pasted on, building up the design until the kite is ready for the bright paper tassels that complete its decoration. Kite construction is an ancient art passed down from the nobles of the Melakan court. Over the dried padi fields, a wau bulan, or moon kite, catches an upcurrent of air. Its wing span is larger than that of an albatross. What used to be a post-harvest diversion among padi farmers has become an international event. Wau festivals are organized each year and draw participants from as far away as the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Belgium, and Singapore.The pre-harvest counterpart to the post-harvest wau-flying is top-spinning, a game requiring great strength, excellent timing, and dexterity. These are not childrens’ toys.
wau.jpg
Gasing, or spinning top, can weigh up to ten pounds and can sometimes be as large as a dinner plate. Gasing competitions are judged by the length of time each top spins. The tops are set spinning by unfurling a rope that has been wound about the top. A gasing expert can set one spinning for over an hour. It calls for strength, coordination, and skill. The gasing, if expertly hurled, can spin for as long as 2 hours. Top spinning competitions are an annual feature in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia especially Kelantan and Terengganu.
gasing1.jpg

Silat is at once a fascinating, weaponless Malay art of self defense and also a dance form that has existed in the Malay Archipelago for hundreds of years. Like the best martial arts, silat is often more about the spirit than the body. The silat practitioner also develops spiritual strength, according to the tenets of Islam. In an age when many of the martial arts are dying out, young people are especially drawn to this art–there are countless silat groups in Malaysia, each with their own style. Silat demonstrations are held during weddings, national celebrations, and of course during silat competitions.

sepak_raga.jpg

Sepak Takraw is one of Malaysia’s most popular sports. In a game reminiscent of hackey-sack (or perhaps the source for it), players use heels, soles, in-steps, thighs, shoulders and heads everything but hands–to keep the small rattan ball aloft. Once a game of village youths, ‘sepak raga bulat’ has become a popular sport among the young urban males. Players standing in a circle keep a rattan ball aloft with any part of their body except their hands. The ball is kept in constant motion without hands touching it.
Malaysia 2002
(http://www.best-of-langkawi.com/CULTURE-games-and-past-times.php)More games to come soon!

Malaysian Heritage and Traditional Games

Childhood

Childhood and space

When I was a kid, when the school holidays started, my parent will take me to my grandparent’s place which situated in Kedah, the northern state in Malaysia. Mainly in Kedah it is kind of rural compare to Penang which is very much city like. The best things being in rural areas ‘kampung’ is the space, and its not only empty space but with trees and some ‘kampung’ insects (e.g.butterflies, dragonflies etc.) and animal like rural chicken ‘ayam kampung’ etc.

At that time there are no internet or broadband. As a kid, having the big space to explore means a lot of work do. Further more, having cousins around makes it much more adventurous. Many ideas is much better than one. We start with discussion about what we wanted to do. Having a space triggers several creative thoughts. Using object around us and perhaps some from the house (borrowed from my grandmother) will help to make something. What should we do with this space? Should we make hut out of the tree and leaves (mainly we use coconut leaves because it’s big) ? Or make some color from organic product? Or make some chairs for us to sit under the trees? We end up making so much things, and this process always make us wanted to go back to the space we have in the ‘kampung’.

Why when we as a kid, when we can’t consume much, we allowed ourselves to think creatively using space and object we have around us just to have some excitement? What allow us?

tarik-upih.jpg

‘Tarik upih’ is one of the game that I played with my parent and my uncle. ‘Upih’ is from coconut leave, old and dry, then I sit on the leave, my uncle pull it and run with me on it. We make a race with my parent and we had so much fun. It use our energy too.